Bathing Venus
Venus’s sinuous pose and sleek surface invited Renaissance viewers to turn the statuette around in their hands and delight the senses of sight and touch. Giambologna invented the groundbreaking composition, called a figura serpentinata, in which bodies "twist like flames" and can be appreciated equally from every vantage point. This bronze’s immaculate casting and fine tooling reveal the goldsmith training of Susini, who was Giambologna’s principal assistant.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bathing Venus
- Artist: After a model by Giambologna (Netherlandish, Douai 1529–1608 Florence)
- Date: early 17th century
- Culture: Italian, Florence
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: Height: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
- Credit Line: Gift of Ogden Mills, 1924
- Object Number: 24.212.16
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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